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Male and female guppies differ in problem-solving abilities.
- Source :
-
Current Zoology . Feb2020, Vol. 66 Issue 1, p83-90. 8p. - Publication Year :
- 2020
-
Abstract
- In a number of species, males and females have different ecological roles and therefore might be required to solve different problems. Studies on humans have suggested that the 2 sexes often show different efficiencies in problem-solving tasks; similarly, evidence of sex differences has been found in 2 other mammalian species. Here, we assessed whether a teleost fish species, the guppy, Poecilia reticulata , displays sex differences in the ability to solve problems. In Experiment 1, guppies had to learn to dislodge a disc that occluded a feeder from which they had been previously accustomed to feed. In Experiment 2, guppies had to solve a version of the detour task that required them to learn to enter a transparent cylinder from the open sides to reach a food reward previously freely available. We found evidence of sex differences in both problem-solving tasks. In Experiment 1, females clearly outperformed males, and in Experiment 2, guppies showed a reversed but smaller sex difference. This study indicates that sex differences may play an important role in fish's problem-solving similar to what has previously been observed in some mammalian species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- *GUPPIES
*NUMBERS of species
*ABILITY
*PROBLEM solving
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 16745507
- Volume :
- 66
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Current Zoology
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 141877775
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1093/cz/zoz017